Aspira of Illinois is asking a federal bankruptcy judge to decide who gets the money from selling its taxpayer-funded former high school in Avondale, after the bankrupt charter network initially planned to keep the proceeds for itself. The shuttered 80,471-square-foot building at 2989 N. Milwaukee Ave., built in 2015 with $27 million in state funds, has drawn an $11 million purchase offer that Aspira wants the court to approve — but the fight over where that money ends up is far from settled.
Aspira filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June, and the case is playing out in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois under Judge Daniel R. Fine, according to PacerMonitor filings. The filing came after months of financial collapse: Aspira was forced to close two charter schools in Avondale in March, submitting state WARN notices for 57 job cuts across two Chicago locations and forcing more than 500 students to find new places to learn in the middle of the school year, as reported by WhatNow.
An August 11 investigative report by WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that Aspira had planned to use the sale proceeds to pay off debt and keep operating, rather than return the money tied to the publicly funded building. That story, first flagged by the Illinois Association of School Boards, sparked public pushback and appears to have pushed Aspira toward a different approach. The charter operator has now proposed paying off some debts and placing roughly $4 million in escrow — money it cannot touch until Judge Fine rules on how it should be divided, the Sun-Times reports.
Why Chicago Public Schools Wants a Say
Illinois charter schools law requires that property or assets purchased with public funds be returned to the local school district from which enrollment was drawn when a charter agreement is silent or ambiguous on the issue. Aspira's own contract with Chicago Public Schools requires property or assets bought with district funds to be returned if Aspira stops operating its schools, per the same account. CPS formally registered its legal presence in the bankruptcy case in July through attorney W. Kent Carter, and the district sent an attorney to the hearing on the property sale, the Sun-Times notes.
CPS officials say they are working through the legal proceedings to ensure publicly funded property and assets are returned to the district, and the district may seek some or all of the remaining sale proceeds. A CPS spokesperson said the district would refrain from providing details on the pending litigation. Aspira's lawyer and other officials did not respond to a request for comment for the Sun-Times report, and attorneys for Illinois state officials have not appeared in court regarding the sale proceeds — nor have state officials responded to questions about whether they intend to pursue the money.
Debts Piling Up as the Clock Runs Out
Aspira owes about $1.5 million to creditors overall, including $5.8 million on a mortgage for a smaller, older building and more than $200,000 to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund. Judge Fine issued an interim order in late July allowing Aspira to keep using its cash collateral through late August, on the condition it make a $10,000 adequate protection payment to its primary lender, Old Second National Bank, according to court filings reviewed by PacerMonitor. Every additional month adds to Aspira's mortgage costs on the second building, which it must keep paying until the sale proceeds are sorted out — a pressure that has made the timeline urgent for the network.
An attorney for the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund has asked Aspira to agree to a financial audit as part of the proceedings. Paul Bach, Aspira's interim executive director, has urged the judge not to delay the sale, calling the $11 million offer by far the best received to date — well above a next-closest bid of $7 million. Bach has said the organization is focused on rebuilding and rebranding as it moves through bankruptcy, and Aspira continues to run an alternative school funded through Chicago Public Schools even as its charter operations wind down.
A Hot Corridor, a Building in 'Pristine Condition'
Part of what makes the Milwaukee Avenue building attractive to buyers is location: it sits along a transit-oriented growth corridor between Logan Square and Avondale where redevelopment activity and commercial property values have been climbing. The 1,000-student facility, designed by MoDE Architects, includes 33 classrooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria, library and 25 administrative offices. A real estate listing for the property describes it as remaining in pristine condition, with significant capital investment supporting either continued educational use or a seamless adaptive reuse.
The financial strain at Aspira didn't emerge overnight. Back in January 2025, Aspira's board voted to close its Haugan Middle School campus in Albany Park after enrollment there dropped to just 89 students amid a $1 million budget deficit, as Hoodline reported at the time. By November 2025, CPS was already warning Aspira over mounting financial troubles at its Avondale campuses, a pattern that culminated in this year's closures and bankruptcy filing.
Founded in 1968 by activist Mirta Ramirez and inspired by Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dr. Antonia Pantoja, Aspira of Illinois spent more than 50 years running Latino-focused youth leadership and charter programs across Chicago. Whether that legacy institution keeps any piece of the money from its taxpayer-built Avondale campus now rests with a bankruptcy judge, as Aspira, CPS, and private creditors all stake competing claims to the same pot of cash.
